How can believers be led like sheep to the slaughter and still be called conquerors?
Believers are led like sheep to the slaughter, yet they are more than conquerors through the One who loved them. Their victory rests not in fleshly energy but in the assurance that nothing can separate them from spending eternity with their Creator God. Therefore they can endure meekly, quietly, and even under persecution without complaining.
Les explains that the analogy is that believers are led like sheep to the slaughter quietly, yet the next verse says they are conquerors. He says this is fantastic and means we do not have to mind being meek, quiet, or coming under persecution, and we can do it without squealing like a hog, because in the end we are still more than conquerors through the One that loved us. That is where it is all at. He adds that we cannot do it; you and I and the energy of the flesh can do nothing, we are nothing. He then points to verse 38 where Paul says he was persuaded—totally convinced—and recalls old King Agrippa saying Paul had almost persuaded him, though he never did.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
More Questions
What does the sheep-to-the-slaughter analogy in Romans 8 mean?
The analogy of sheep being led quietly to the slaughter pictures believers, yet the next verse says that they are conquerors.